What’s stopping you from re-inventing your career?

In a recent article by Heather Cairns-Lee and Bill Fischer published at the Harvard Business Review, they quoted a Microsoft study of 30,000 people revealed that 46% of workers are considering a major career pivot or transition after the Covid years. For many, this search goes beyond pursuing another role and into the realm of personal reinvention.

Based on experience, the majority of those who express the desire for change ultimately fail to follow through. Surprisingly or not - many of those who will get stuck in the process hold senior executive roles.

Their point was that many people were considering a life change, but very few were actually doing something about it.

In my opinion, I think the authors were being rather generous, especially in their treatment of senior executives who the authors claim tend their work successes to their identity.

Personal reinvention implies a reputational risk that few are ready to contemplate. And while executives have been educated in strategic planning and change at the organizational level, reinvention at a personal level is not part of the curriculum at most business schools. As senior executives, we tend to be regarded as people to whom others come for advice, so seeking help requires courage.

In our conversations, we often see deep analysis about ‘what I should do next’. All too frequently, this becomes ‘paralysis by analysis’ – or put it another way – another excuse for status quo.

Searching for the one right answer to your future will also hold you back – it’s important to remember that just as in business, there are many ways to tackle a problem – and most will be successful to one extent or another. There is no magic answer, try out options, experiment – you have the experience to adapt as you go.

It seems the easiest way to avoid starting this reinvention process is to focus on all the other urgent work you have to do. The more you bury yourself in your immediate responsibilities, the less time you have less and less time to focus on your own longer-term aspirations when you’re weighed down with the demands of today. Procrastination may feel easier in the short term than scare personal reinvention.

So, are Cairns-Lee and Fischer right? What do you think? Put your thoughts and questions in the comments below.